Blood platelets, also known as thrombocytes, function in the human body to provide for the coagulation of blood when the blood supply is exposed to potential loss, e.i., trauma, abrasions, and other hemorrhaging injuries. Platelets rapidly interact with damaged blood vessels and with each other to prevent the escape of blood cells and also facilitate the formation of a blood clot in which they become enmeshed so as to plug up any "leaks" in the vascular system. However, in certain disease states, such as thrombosis, it is desirable and even necessary, to inhibit blood platelet function. This is because the thrombus can either occlude the blood vessel and cause damage to the tissue being supplied with blood from that vessel (for example, myocardial infarction, stroke after vascular surgery, etc) or because the platelets and other thrombotic material can break off from the thrombus and lodge down-stream in blood vessels supplying other parts of the body (for example, venous thrombosis with pulmonary embolism, transient ischemic attacks, amaurosis fugax, strokes from the artificial hearts, etc).
Drugs currently utilized to counteract the platelet function suffer from a lack of potency and/or specificity. Thus, there is a continuing need for new and improved drugs that will inhibit platelet function in diseases characterized by thrombosis.